Welcome screen shows /init tip when .claude/CLAUDE.md exists

Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Feb 17, 2026 by tstrimple Closed Feb 20, 2026

Description

The welcome screen shows the "Run /init to create a CLAUDE.md file" tip (in warning color) even when a valid .claude/CLAUDE.md file exists and is correctly loaded by the runtime. The detection logic only checks for CLAUDE.md at the project root, missing the officially supported .claude/CLAUDE.md location.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Create a project directory with .claude/CLAUDE.md (but no root-level CLAUDE.md)
  2. Launch Claude Code in that directory
  3. Observe the welcome screen

Expected Behavior

The welcome screen should recognize .claude/CLAUDE.md as a valid CLAUDE.md file and not show the "/init" creation tip.

Actual Behavior

The welcome screen displays "Run /init to create a CLAUDE.md file" in warning color, implying no CLAUDE.md exists — even though .claude/CLAUDE.md is present and is correctly loaded by the runtime (its contents appear in the assistant's system context).

Notes

  • The runtime loader works correctly.claude/CLAUDE.md is found, loaded, and its contents are injected into the system prompt as expected.
  • Only the welcome screen tip detection is affected.
  • Both ./CLAUDE.md and ./.claude/CLAUDE.md are documented as equivalent project-level locations for instructions.

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